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Brigit Strawbridge

@brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social

12K followers 1.9K following 3.1K posts

Wildlife gardening.. love insects, plants, birds, fungi, grass snakes, trees, moths, rivers, caterpillars & all things wild, especially solitary bees, bumblebees... and Dippers! Art. Poetry. Cornwall Author 'Dancing with Bees - a Journey Back to Nature'

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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · Sep 4

Calling South West #birders

The BTO South West Conference is coming up, and it looks like a really interesting day

Talks about locally important species by local and @btobirds.bsky.social speakers - & I'll be there speaking about #Wildlife Gardening

More here: www.bto.org/our-work/eve...

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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 4h

I have indeed... I suspect we might be studying Grass Snakes next week!

Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 4h

Exactly that, Lesley... I can't wait to show it to them :)

Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 7h

It will indeed be hard to part with, but this looks like worthwhile research, so thank you for the link, Ewan. Maybe I'll just hang on to it for another week or so, whilst it dries out...

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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 7h

Oh what I'd give for nesting Swifts, and Brown Hairstreaks!

Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 7h

Oh how wonderful!

Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 10h

It's the first time I've found a whole shed skin, Ian, so it made my day... actually my year!

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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 10h

I have never before found the shed skins, Jack, so over the moon about this!

Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 10h

Exciting goings-on in our garden!

2 weeks ago one Grass #Snake in the first clip had opaque blue eyes, indicating he/she was about to shed his/her skin.

Wind forward a couple of weeks... and the 2nd clip shows that newly shed skin, which I found in the same spot yesterday afternoon! #wildlife

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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 1d

Really?! Getting my coat on now just in case they're up there...

Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 1d

Thank you so much, Deb. No wonder they're eating so much food at the moment!

Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 1d

Hehe..... that made me chuckle!

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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 1d

No... this is really useful, Jackie, thank you!

Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 1d

We don't get badgers, deer, or rabbits! I hope you see hedgehogs in your garden again one day.

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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 1d

It seems late in the year, doesn't it? But I've read up on it and definitely a possibility!

Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 1d

Lots of #hedgehog activity in our garden last night!

One of the hogs looks really young, and the last looks either extremely well fed... or about to give birth. I believe they sometimes have a second litter in September/October. Can anyone tell me for sure, either way, from the video? #wildlife

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Reposted by Brigit Strawbridge

Bruce Taylor @barrabirder.bsky.social · 3d

Our first pulse of Icelandic Redwings on Barra today, though other migrant passerines remain in very short supply. #BirdingScotland

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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 2d

Recent headlines state 'Numbers of nesting hen harriers in England have risen slightly in 2025'

Dig deeper and the headline lacks context

"Hen Harrier persecution is still so rampant on many driven grouse moors it’s suppressing the distribution of this species at a national level"

Worth a read 👇

Ruth Tingay @ruthtingay.bsky.social · 6d

Hardly any Hen Harrier nesting attempts on English grouse moors for second year running.

Hardly any surprise why.

#RaptorPersecution #WildlifeCrime #Ornithology

raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/10/02/h...

Hardly any Hen Harrier nesting attempts on English grouse moors for second year running

Natural England has finally got around to publishing the data for the 2025 Hen Harrier breeding season, which demonstrate very clear differences between areas managed for conservation and those man…

raptorpersecutionuk.org

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Reposted by Brigit Strawbridge

acorncarver.bsky.social @acorncarver.bsky.social · 3d

If you’re near RSPB Titchwell on the 11/12 October in the afternoon pop in and catch my video/photo presentation about RSPB Snettisham, and it’s free😀

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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 3d

It was listening to this excellent podcast that prompted me to go in search of Black Poplar paintings!

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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 4d

Oh no... what a tragedy!

Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 4d

"Only six thousand (Black Poplar) trees remain in the UK, of which a tiny percentage are female, leaving the species on the brink of extinction..."

I'd love to have seen this exhibition by Herefordshire landscape painter, Richard Bavin

theplacecollective.org/2025/04/17/r... #art #trees #treeart

Celebrating our Native Black Poplar – Richard Bavin

Richard Bavin’s mixed media portraits of native Black Poplars celebarte this threatened species. Three of these drawings are included in the See Here Now exhibition in Grizedale Forest, captu…

theplacecollective.org

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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 4d

Last call for my talk tomorrow, in Looe! 'Tis free, and there are 11 tickets remaining...

www.ticketsource.co.uk/looe-festiva... #bees #naturewriting #cornwall

Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 9d

This Sunday I'm speaking at The Looe Festival of Words, about my book 'Dancing with Bees - a Journey back to #Nature' - and about some of my favourite #bee species 🐝

Starts 2pm at The Millpool Centre in Looe, #Cornwall. Do come along if you can! 👇

www.ticketsource.co.uk/looe-festiva...

"DANCING WITH BEES: A Journey Back to Nature" at Millpool Centre

Tickets are now available for DANCING WITH BEES: A Journey Back to Nature at Millpool Centre, Cornwall on Sunday 5th October 2025 at 2:00PM. Click the link for further information and to secure your tickets now!

www.ticketsource.co.uk

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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 6d

This one's a 'he'

Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 7d

I know. I totally agree. Different ways to bring different people on board, I guess...

Then there's the whole question around whether bee and bird nesting boxes do more harm than good, home-made or bought. Sometimes better to engage folk first, then gently point them in a better direction.

Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 7d

Something beautiful...

Skeleton of a leaf, curved around a smooth stone

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